A/N: Wow! I got this chapter done fast! So, I got quite a few views for the last chapter, but not a SINGLE review. Please, review, it would make my day!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 8: The Progression

Once he got back to the common room, Draco had to endure fifteen minutes of questions and accusations from Blaise and Theo.

"Look, I'm sorry," Draco said, irritated. "I just had to do something."

"What?" Theo demanded.

"Nothing," Draco said dismissively. "It's not important."

"Really?" Blaise asked skeptically. "Because when you ran off like that, it seemed pretty important."

"It's nothing," Draco said in a firm tone. "Did you think of a way to get Pansy off my back?" He asked hastily, trying to change the subject.

Surprisingly, Theo smirked. "It turns out," he said with a glance at Blaise. "That Blaise and Pansy have been secretly seeing each other since the start of term."

Draco felt relief flood through him. "Really?" He said, turning to Blaise. Blaise looked a bit embarrassed, but tilted his chin up in a gesture of confirmation.

A grin spread across Draco's face. "That's great!" He said, leaning over and punching Blaise's shoulder. Draco stood up. "I think," he said. "That this calls for a trip down to the kitchens!"

Theo laughed, looking very satisfied with himself, and, as they left the common room whispered to Draco, "I told you I could get him to tell me."

"How'd you do it?" Draco asked, amused.

"I won't tell," he replied, smirking.

That Friday night, Draco decided to put the first part of his plan into action. A few minutes before curfew, he headed to Slughorn's office to make sure that the Potions master was asleep, or at least not about to leave the room.

He crept outside the door and pressed his ear to it. He heard loud, rumbling snores from behind the wood, and let out a silent sigh of relief. Everything was going as planned. So far.

Draco hurried off to the Room of Requirement. There were still five minutes until curfew, so Filch could not give him detention if he got to the room fast enough.

Breaking into a run as a clock somewhere in the castle struck nine, Draco slid into the seventh floor corridor and began pacing in front of the wall just as the last bell rang out. The familiar door appeared soon enough, and Draco slipped into the room after making sure Filch was nowhere in sight.

After he had entered, Draco headed straight to the Vanishing Cabinet. Reaching behind it, he extracted the cauldron of Polyjuice Potion and Slughorn's hairs.

Ladling out a small portion of potion into a small cup he had brought with him, Draco added the hairs to the potion, watching it turn to a deep royal purple. Bringing the cup to his lips, Draco drained the class.

After a second- long pause, a burning sensation spread through Draco. He felt himself shorten and widen. The hair on his head sunk into his scalp, and a moustache grow on his lips. Draco could not breathe.

Finally, after a few, long, horrible minutes, Draco felt the burning subside. He turned to face a cracked mirror propped up against a wall a few feet away and looked at his reflection. He was the mirror image of Slughorn. Of course, Draco had not expected anything to be wrong with the potion, seeing as the Potions master had made it.

Draco quickly changed out of his own Slytherin robes-which had become rather tight- and pulled on a set of black and silver robes that he had taken from the laundry room the previous day. They probably were not Slughorn's, but Draco felt that they would do.

Stumbling slightly as he exited the Room or Requirement (he was not used to being so fat, being rather skinny himself), Draco headed down the corridor and toward the Entrance Hall.

When he was halfway there, he bumped into Filch.

"Hello, Professor," Filch wheezed. "Where're you off to?"

Draco cleared his throat. "I'm off to Hogsmeade to visit Madame Rosmerta. I fancy a bottle of her mead. I haven't had some in so long..." He trailed off, starting to head down the corridor.

"I think I should check you with my Secrecy Sensor first, Professor, just to..."

"Are you accusing me of smuggling Dark artifacts around the castle?" Draco demanded, quite enjoying getting to intimidate Filch after all these years of being punished by him.

"No, of course not..." Filch muttered, hurrying away.

Smiling to himself, Draco continued down the corridor, feeling in his pocket for his wand and the two fake Galleons in his pocket, upon which he had cast the Protean Charm.

It had been difficult casting the charm, as it was at N.E.W.T. level and because Draco had never tried it before. But after many tries in his dormitory at night, Draco had finally managed to magically link the two Galleons to each other.

He had been determined to get it right, seeing as Granger had been able to to. And, seeing that he had gotten the idea from her, he wanted to make sure he did a better job of it than she had. Though he had no way to confirm that he had, he had still felt extremely proud of himself after he had successfully cast the charm.

Draco hurried down the long path from the castle toward Hogsmeade, wanting to get there, do what he wanted to do, and get back before his hour was up.

After fifteen minutes, Draco reached the Three Broomsticks. He pushed open the door slowly, and was not at all surprised to see that it was, except for Madame Rosmerta, completely empty. Most people probably felt unsafe going out so late at night.

Madame Rosmerta looked up as Draco entered the room.

"Professor!" She exclaimed. "What a wonderful surprise! What will you be having? I just brewed some..." Her eyes widened as she saw the wand Draco was pointing at her. "Is something wrong?" She asked, looking frightened.

Draco took a deep breath. He had never done this before, and knew that if he messed up, he would never be able to complete his task.

Clearing his throat, Draco raised his arm a bit higher and said clearly, "Imperio."

Draco waited for a moment with baited breath. Had it worked? Or had he failed?

After a minute, Draco breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Madame Rosmerta's eyes slide slightly out of focus. Immediately, a peculiar sensation rippled through Draco. He felt as if someone else's body had become attached to his, which it technically had.

A slight feeling of malice spread through Draco.

Jump up and down, run outside, and sing the national anthem, he thought to Rosmerta. Immediately, she did so. Draco felt pride swell up in his chest.

Calling Rosmerta inside, he handed her one of the fake Galleons.

"I'm going to use this to tell you what to do," he said, pointing to the fake coin. "It's not real, so don't spend it. I want you to go about business as usual, but be sure to check the Galleon everyday for instructions." Draco paused as he watched Rosmerta nod. "Good, " he said. "Now, I want you to send this to Borgin and Burkes." He pulled the list of problems with the Vanishing Cabinet from his pocket. "Get me a quill," he told Rosmerta. She did so immediately.

Dipping the quill into the bottle of ink Rosmerta had set before him, Draco began to add to the list

Borgin,

Send the necklace to Rosmerta at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade.

Draco Malfoy

Draco rolled up the parchment and handed it to Rosmerta.

"Borgin will send you a necklace in a few days," he told her. "Don't unwrap it. Don't even let it rip. I'll tell you what to do with it the next time I visit. I'll look different then, though. Don't tell anyone I came here. Don't follow orders from anyone else. Just check the Galleon everyday. I'll show you mine when I come back so you know it's me."

Rosmerta nodded.

"Now," said Draco. "I'll have a firewhiskey."

Rosmerta gave him his drink, without making him pay, then hurried off to bed. Draco headed out of the pub and back to the castle. He had fifteen minutes left, so he hurried. He made it back to the Room of Requirement just as the potion wore off.

Pulling on his own robes, Draco slipped the fake Galleon and his wand into his pocket and hurried back to the common room. He was himself again, so if he was caught by Filch, he would most definitely get detention.

Hurrying down to the dungeons, Draco nearly stepped on Mrs. Norris.

"Shoot!" He muttered quietly, trying to brush the cat off. She hissed at him, and Draco heard footsteps, no doubt Filch's. He ran down the staircase in front of him and threw himself into the common room once he reached the dungeons.

Panting hard, he leaned against the inside of the door and looked up to see Blaise and Pansy in a tight embrace in front of the fire, kissing fiercely.

"Um, sorry," he said. Standing upright and heading toward the dormitory.

Pansy, who had evidently heard him, broke away from the kiss and looked at Draco.

"Oh!" She said, looking ashamed and embarrassed. "Draco! I..." She broke off, evidently at a loss for what to say. She looked at Blaise for a moment, then back at Draco. "I'm really sorry!" She blurted out. "We just..." She looked down at the ground. She obviously thought that Draco had liked her back and that he was devastated.

Inferring this much, Draco changed his slightly jubilant expression to one of forces toughness.

"It's okay," he said, trying to sound upset. "You two are great together, anyway."

Pansy's expression brightened. "So you're not mad?" She asked.

"Well," Draco said, thoroughly enjoying this. "I'd rather you be happy."

"Oh Draco!" Pansy rushed toward Draco and hugged him. Draco winked at Blaise over Pansy's shoulder, who was also looking slightly amused. Blaise grinned, and Draco stepped away from Pansy.

"Well, I'll just leave you two alone," he said, unable to keep a hint of glee from his voice. He turned his back on Blaise and Pansy, smirking to himself, and headed to his dorm. As he lay down, he felt extremely happy for two reasons. One, he had managed to make some progress on his task, and two, he had finally, after six years, gotten Pansy Parkinson to leave him alone.